Grantham Fire-EMS sees spring call volume rise after high winds

A stretch of high winds pushed Grantham Fire-EMS into a busier spring rhythm, with fire alarms, medical emergencies, utility calls and storm damage arriving in the same two-week span.

The activity report in the May 27, 2026 Board of Selectmen packet covered April 26 through May 9 and showed the department handling multiple fire alarm activations, medical responses, utility-related incidents, mutual aid calls and weather-related runs involving downed trees and wires. The report said the wind event drove a noticeable jump in storm-related calls and forced Grantham crews to coordinate more closely with neighboring agencies.

That regional coordination was not theoretical. On May 18, Sunapee Fire Department said it responded mutual aid to Grantham for a second alarm brush fire, sending Forestry 6, Tanker 4 and an Argo ATV to help suppress the blaze. Sunapee said its crew worked with mutual aid partners to contain and fully extinguish the fire, a reminder that spring fire activity in Grantham can quickly move beyond one town’s resources.

The Grantham report fits into a pattern that has been building for months. In April 2025, another Fire-EMS report described a significant storm event that brought widespread downed trees and wires and a high volume of emergency responses. By November, the department was seeing more furnace inspections and preparing for the Jan. 1 federal reporting shift from NFIRS to NERIS. In December, Grantham said it was still dealing with elevated call volume and storm-related incidents. A March 30 through April 11, 2026 report added medical calls, alarms, hazardous-condition responses and mutual aid, including a structure fire response in Springfield.

Together, those reports show a small-town fire and EMS department working through more than isolated emergencies. Grantham Fire-EMS is being pulled into the day-to-day burden of spring, when weather, outdoor activity and utility problems can stack up fast. The department’s role in mutual aid also underscores how rural response depends on a wider network, especially when storms and brush fires stretch crews across town lines.

Grantham Fire-EMS is led by Chief Justin Hastings and Deputy Chief Dave Beckley and operates from 251 Route 10 South in Grantham. Town records place the department’s operational updates in front of selectmen at the Town of Grantham Board of Selectmen meetings held at the Grantham Town Building, 300 Route 10 South, where the spring workload is now part of the public record.